Quote Originally Posted by sparks19 View Post
but if the family doctors aren't taking patients... what can you do? I mean here in the US they are because not everyone has one and with this population if it becomes "free" then they are going to become over run. there jsut aren't enough doctors for the demand and when everyone starts flocking to the doctors for every sniffle and sneeze and bruise they get full and overworked. this is what happened in London. People started going to the doctor for every little thing and they filled up... so they started walk in clinics... now because of the family doctor shortage the walk in clinics can be just as long a wait as the ER.

They can't work around the clock and can only handle so many patients. when the patient load gets to be too much they stop taking new ones. I know even some pediatricians here aren't taking new patients because they are filled.

and.. again... after hours if you need help where else can you go but to the ER.
Forgive me for being so thick, but I just don't get that. People here don't go to the doctor for every sniffle, sneeze and bruise, so why would they do that anywhere else?

Does the Canadian system really make no provision for out-of-hours consultation? The British system does.